New rudder driver

[Vern Smith]

We have a new product we have been working on for the last six months or so. It's a new way to drive the rudder in giant scale aircraft. Below are it's main advantages over current systems and a little history of why and how we did it.

1. The servos no longer fight each other causing high battery drain.

2. Near perfect neutral centering.

3. The bridge across the top of the units take the loads from the rudder and put them directly into the aluminum tray rather than the servo bearings.

4. Drive the rudder anyway you wish, pull/pull, push/pull, or a single push rod

5. Light weight, the entire two pulley assembly including the output horn weighs 3.2 ounces (not including the servos).

6. Less mAh per flight

7. More than enough strength to handle the newest high torque servos.

8. Smooth quiet operation with no metal to metal contact.

9. Easy conversion or initial set up, four 6-32 screws and you're ready to go.

10. Very expensive and lots of BLING!

A little background, I've been looking at the way driving the rudder has become more and more complex and power intensive as the size of our airplanes increase. It seems like it takes as much time to install the servos and hook up to the rudder as it does to do all the rest of the flying surfaces. I thought the easiest way to make the rudder as easy to operate as the rest of the surfaces would be to operate the rudder like the rest of surfaces. One output arm from the servo, one horn on the rudder and one pushrod.

Photo # 6 shows this arrangement in my 35% Extra 260. I've been flying this set up for about 3 months, works great. My friend, guru and consultant Mike Emery looked at this and said it won't work for pull/pull and most guys use pull/pull. As he correctly pointed out the belt tensioner outside the belt precludes a double arm because it would swing into the tensioner.

A lot of guys fly 40 plus percent airplanes and I was concerned about putting all the rudder loads into one unassisted servo as happens in photo # 6. I decided to build a 3 pulley set up for the larger airplanes and my guru/consultant just happened to have a 40% Carden which he graciously volunteered. His instillation is photos number 4 and 5, a before and after.

The combination idler/tensioner pulley bolts directly to the aluminum tray and handles all the rudder loads. I built the bridge across the top to be sure everything stays in line and to carry most of the load the servo bearings normally see. The bridge bolts solidly to the tray through the idler/tensioner pulley so you effectively put the entire assembly in double shear, just like my tail wheels :< )

The bridge solidly bolted to the tray concept worked so well on the assembly in the 40% Carden that I figured it could be used in all size airplanes without carrying around the third pulley. The latest iteration is photos number 1, 2 and 3. This exact arrangement with HiTec servos is currently installed in Tony Greene's big YAK which he flew this weekend at the Chattanooga 3D event. He sent me a couple e-mails last night with very favorable reports.

I hate to admit it but what is without a doubt my most effective product has been a complete flop. I've had the servo trays on my web site for almost a year and have sold about five of them. Bolting the servos solidly to the aluminum tray and doing the isolation mounting on the 8" by 5" foot print does wonders for consistent neutral positioning. The little mounting footprint of the servo coupled with the large torque numbers of the newer servos make it impossible for the servo to come back to the same place every time. The solution is to move the isolation dampening away fro the output shaft and the centering accuracy goes up by the square of the distance. This probably will not mean much to the 3D guys but it should be a big deal for the IMAC crowd. Anyhow, this feature is also incorporated into the belt drive rudder system.

I have not done all the necessary homework on sourcing up all the nits and knack's that go into one of these but it looks like the pricing for the set as you see in photos 1 through 3 will be $225.00 to $275.00. That will include everything except the servos, all hardware and isolation mounts included. It will be assembled as far as it possibly can be without having the servos on hand. I will do it all if you send me the servos including setting the neutrals and the end points. This will involve a small up charge. It will come with complete photo directed instructions. What ever method you currently use to synchronize two servos works with this set up. However, it's very important to correctly synchronize the neutral and end points to reap all the benefits of the system.

I need a name for this thing/comcept. The guy with the best name gets one free.


Vern Smith

[Scott Gerber]

Awesome job Vern...!!!


Scott

[ericb]

Interesting.

[Bunky F. Knuckle]

How about the "Bicep!"

[brycesteenburg]

"White Rose Rudder Spider"

[DKooi]

ROBO-RUDDER

[SmoothFlying]

So will this make Boost Tabs obsolete now?

Nice setup!!

[rcpilot82]

White Rose~ Rudder-Vator
(Rudder - motivator)

[MattyMatt]

Looks sweet vern!


- Torque Arm
- Simplex
- Duoplex
- Kuntrol... Yaw Kuntrol... Kontrol... or Yaw Kontrol

[sweetpea]

-Tron
-BLING!
-Tarantula

You need to do a slap chop style commercial as well!

[Josh Price]

??? the first part of #10 is a odd tactic for advertising

[SleepyC]

How about naming it "Sold Out"

Cause that is what it will be for some time to come!
I wants one!
Me likie!!

[TEKE]

Rudder Incognation

[SmoothFlying]

What would happen if the rubber belt broke?

[gotsky]

The White Rose "Strong Arm" Rudder system